By YURI KAGEYAMA, Associated Press Business Writer
TOKYO (AP) — European shares opened lower on Thursday after a day of gains in Asia as investors awaited the next steps in President Donald Trump’s trade war.
The European Central Bank was expected to cut interest rates given worries over the potential impact of Trump’s trade policies.
France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.6% to 7,282.82, while the German DAX lost 0.2% to 21,267.50. Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 0.7% to 8,216.80.
The future for the S&P 500 jumped 0.9%, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.8%.
In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 1.4% to finish at 34,377.60 after Trump joined Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in the talks with a Japanese delegation in Washington.
Afterward, Trump wrote in a social media post that it was: “A Great Honor to have just met with the Japanese Delegation on Trade. Big Progress!”
There was no immediate indication of what progress that might be.
Shares in Honda Motor Co. jumped 1.9% after the Japanese automaker said it plans to move its production of the five-door Civic hybrid electric vehicles for the U.S. market from Japan to the company’s plant in Indiana.
Honda Motor Co. didn’t say the move was in response to Trump’s tariff policies but stressed it moves production to where there is demand. Production of the U.S.-bound five-door Civic HEV began at the Yorii plant outside Tokyo in February. So far 3,000 vehicles have been produced there for the U.S. market.
Also Thursday, Japan’s Finance Ministry reported that the nation recorded a trade deficit i n its fiscal year through March, but racked up a surplus with the U.S. For the month of March, Japan recorded a trade surplus of $4 billion. Exports climbed nearly 4% from a year earlier, for the sixth straight month of gains, although the increase was slower than in February.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.8% to 7,819.10. South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.9% to 2,470.41. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.6% to 21,395.14, while the Shanghai Composite edged up 0.1% to 3,280.34.
On Wednesday, U.S. stocks fell after Nvidia warned new restrictions on exports to China will cost it billions of dollars. The S&P 500 sank 2.2% and the Dow shed 1.7%. The Nasdaq composite lost 3.1%.
Many investors are bracing for a possible recession because of Trump’s tariffs, which he has said he hopes will bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States and trim how much more it imports from other countries than it exports. A survey of global fund managers by Bank of America found expectations for recession are at the fourth-highest level in the last 20 years.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude rose 50 cents to $62.33 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 45 cents to $66.30 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 142.73 Japanese yen from 141.88 yen. The euro cost $1.1371, down from $1.1401.